Monday, September 25, 2006

aMAIZEing...

Leeann and I took Rob and Titus on a surprise date to a local corn 'maize' on Friday night. It was the first night they were open, and because it's early in the season there weren't many people there. We entered into the maze about 7 o'clock in the evening, just as it was starting to get dark. We wandered around for maybe 5 or 10 minutes and then ended up back where we started. We were both thinking it was kind of silly and that there had to be more to the maze than that--so we headed back in to see if we could get further into the maze. Their advertisement says it takes most people about an hour to get through it, and we were up for the challenge!

We got lost. Really lost. At the beginning of the evening it was still a little bit light out and we strolled through the tall stalks of corn. Rob had Titus in a carrier on his chest, and I was pushing Leeann in her jogging stroller. We were just moseying along having fun. As it got darker, and we got more and more disoriented; our strolling turned into a very fast-paced dire search for the exit. Rob and I were trying to keep calm, because at this point Leeann didn't realize there's anything frightening about being lost in a corn maze in the pitch dark with nobody around! At different points in time however, Rob and I were both panicking. We couldn't see more than a couple of feet in front of us and we had tried every feasible path we could find. At one point I walked through the stalks (off the trail) toward some light and I found a new set of paths that we hadn't seen in a while. We knew we needed to get there, we just didn' t know how. So we set off to find out how to get there. We got lost again and it was nearing 9:00. Eventually we opted to stop looking for the exit and start looking for that place that I had walked through the stalks again. We eventually found that place and I told Leeann to cover her face because we were going in! So with all of my might I forced the jogging stroller through the stalks and we emerged onto a well-lit, well worn path. About 30 seconds later we were out of the maze and I felt like I could breathe again! It sounds silly, but it was honestly scary! We met the owners at the exit; they were just about to go in the maze looking for us. The sweet lady informed us that they plow emergency exits into the maze right about the first time someone gets really lost in there! I assure you if there had been emergency exits, we would have taken them! We sweetly smiled and made a little bit of small talk, then Leeann got to pick out a pumpkin for her and one for Titus and we headed toward our car. We didn't bother to tell them that we had 'taken the road less traveled' to finally get out of the maze. I'm sure by seasons end, we won't be the only ones!

If you would like some of your own family fun, I recommend taking your little ones (or even just your spouse) to the Iverson Family Farm in Jefferson, Oregon. I will make a small recommendation though--do it in the daylight and leave yourself plenty of time!